starting colege at 30

solongmarianne

hi I am confused like nothing before!!
I am hoping to start college, and prgress to uni 3 years, however the money side confuses me, this is COMPLETELY new to me so any advice on how it works and how low wage parents manage to live also.
I have enterd details on entitled to , but dont get a good explanation as i dont know what loans, money i should expect. the college is going to get back to me, but I thought I would ask on here in the meantime. thanks

mummy4monsters

Hi there, I am a student midwife (currently on maternity leave!). Although my situation is different to yours I can tell you what you will probably be entitled to when you start uni. I'm not sure about what help you can get whilst doing your access course as I didn't go down that route but I'm sure someone will know. Firstly its depends on if you want to do the Dipolma or degree. Degree students receive an income assessed bursary, for diploma is non-income assessed. You can take a look at the bursary calculator to get a rough idea (type in a google search as I am unable to post links) You will also be able to apply for a maintenance loan as a degree student. You will be able to claim childcare costs, I don't think the full amount but most of it (a friend of mine who is a single Mum gets 85% of it paid). You will be able to claim for housing benefit to help with your rent and as a full time student on your own you will be council tax expempt. Your chosen uni will probably also have various grants & funds available for your to apply for. Although some students do continue to work while studying its pretty hard going especially when you have a child/children aswell, however the option is always there if you feel you need to top up, to do some agency shifts or bank shifts through your local trust as a HCA. Hope that helps abit. GOOD LUCK!

stephyt23

I did the access route to get into teaching and am just about to start my second year of uni.

You could be entitled to Adult Leanring Grant (ALG) while doing your access course if this is your first level 3 qualification and you are doing the course on the full time route.

This website has all the info: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/FinancialHelpForAdultLearners/Adultlearninggrant/index.htm

and if you're still unsure your college should know what you're entitled to.
The access course is definitely a great way back into education. I was the second youngest on my course at 22 and I really enjoyed it. I also loved that we had a separate room on breaks for mature students so you don't have to feel out of place surrounded by 16 year olds. I'm sure you'll enjoy the course, good luck with it

solongmarianne

thanks for the info its been helpfull, I have a year to save as much as I can to start me off , got an appointment with college so I will run through everyting again wih them, thanks x

fiodyl

I did the Access to Health course at college last year, aged 29 (turned 30 during the course) and a single parent with 2 children.

I received income support, full housing benefit and council tax benefit as well as child benefit and tax credits. The college also paid for all my childcare (kids aged 2 and 3) plus travel expenses (about £120 a term I think). The course fees were also waived although I had to pay £100 up front for exam costs, but I got this back at a later date.

Good luck! Access was great fun and I made loads of new friends and learnt so much, even if it was quite stressful at times. Definatley worth it though as I'm starting uni this time next week :-)

solongmarianne

fiyodyl, thank you so much, your reply is really helpfull

good luck with starting uni, x